Rules
Registering your van as a camper: the requirements in the Netherlands and Germany
A van does not become a camper because there is a bed in it. It becomes one the moment the authority registers it as a camper, and that only happens if the interior meets four requirements and is permanently attached to the bodywork. Here is exactly what is required, what it costs, and what changed in Dutch road tax on 1 January 2026.
Updated on 18 min read
The Netherlands: the RDW's four requirements
The RDW registers a converted van as a camper under vehicle category M1 with bodywork code SA. To get that code, four provisions must be present in the living area, and all four must be permanently attached to the vehicle. Simply placing them inside does not count, however heavy they are.
- Seating and a table. The table may be removable, but must have a fixed mounting.
- A bed. You may form it from the seating — a convertible bench therefore counts.
- A cooking facility, permanently mounted. Gas, spirit, diesel or electric are all acceptable.
- Storage. A cupboard or a drawer — a crate standing loose on the floor is not.
Permanently attached means: to the bodywork, not to the floor board you laid yourself. An inspector will lift your furniture. Whatever moves is not fixed, and then the whole inspection fails over a single bracket.
The inspection: appointment, duration and cost
- 01
Book an appointment
Online with the RDW, using DigiD or eHerkenning. On the day you drive the shortest route from your home address to the inspection site; the van must be insured and roadworthy.
- 02
The inspection itself
Allow roughly three quarters of an hour. Be there fifteen minutes early, with the registration document and valid photo ID.
- 03
New registration document
If your van moved from category N — commercial vehicle — to M, you get a new registration number. Once both the RDW and the tax office agree, the document arrives within five working days. Only then may you take it on the road.
| Item | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Standard inspection, 5 to 9 aspects | € 72.50 | Most conversions |
| Extended inspection | From € 675 | As soon as you modify the seats themselves — extra belts, a rotated bench |
The gap between those two figures is why almost every self-builder leaves the original seats untouched. Seating is the most expensive piece of regulation in the whole project.
Two lists of requirements: the RDW's and the tax office's
This is the part worth thousands of euros, and it is entirely in your hands — provided you know it before you start. There are two lists of interior requirements. The RDW checks whether it is a camper; the tax office checks whether it is one for purchase tax as well, and that second list goes further. Put both lists beside you from the first sketch and you satisfy them in one go — the difference lies mostly in where you put things, and much less in what it costs.
Converting a panel van into a camper triggers Dutch vehicle purchase tax — even if the van is more than five years old. The exemption for entrepreneurs' panel vans was abolished on 1 January 2025, so that route no longer exists. Meet the camper interior requirements and you pay the special passenger-car rate; fail them and you pay the full passenger-car rate. The gap between those two is what this section is about.
The requirement that fails most vans is the space rule. In the interior — the part behind the driver and passenger seats in their rearmost position — an imaginary block must fit measuring at least 170 cm high, 200 cm long and 90 cm wide. A low van never manages that: it sits around 140 cm. If your interior is between 130 and 170 cm, you may raise it with a fixed high top or a pop-top, provided the raised section is itself at least 100 cm long and 90 cm wide.
| Requirement | RDW, for the M1/SA code | Tax office, for the tax rate |
|---|---|---|
| Interior height | No requirement | At least 170 cm, over 200 cm of length and 90 cm of width |
| Sleeping places | A bed; may be formed from the seating | For at least two people, and not formed from the driver and passenger seats |
| Cooking facility | Present and permanently mounted | A fixed kitchen unit with a worktop at least 60 cm high, with a built-in water supply: sink, tap and drain |
| Storage | Present | Fixed and lockable |
| Attachment | Fixed in the living area | Permanently installed |
Two things follow immediately. A low van without a raised roof cannot reach the favourable tax rate, however beautifully you fit it out. And your kitchen needs a sink with a tap and a drain — a hob on a shelf satisfies the RDW and not the tax office. Check this before you start building, because moving it afterwards costs you a second fit-out.
What changed in Dutch road tax on 1 January 2026
Up to and including 2025, a camper paid a quarter of the rate a passenger car in the same weight class pays. From 1 January 2026 that quarter rate is gone and the half rate applies: you now pay fifty per cent. For a 3,500 kg camper that is roughly a thousand to thirteen hundred euros a year. That is not a detail — for many people it decides whether the project goes ahead, and most sites still have it wrong.
- The special rate is not automatic: you have to apply for it yourself at the tax office.
- The word 'camper' on your registration is not enough — the interior has to keep meeting the requirements.
- Rip the kitchen out later and the rate lapses retroactively; you then pay the full amount.
Which driving licence you need
A category B licence covers everything up to a 3,500 kg permissible maximum mass. Almost every panel van converted into a camper sits exactly on that limit, and that is no accident: manufacturers build them that way because the whole market drives on a B licence. Go above it and you need C1 — valid to 7,500 kg, with a medical and separate training. More importantly: the limit applies to the permissible maximum mass on your registration document, not to what your van happens to weigh.
Work out how much payload you have left
Germany: the Wohnmobil registration
The German requirements sit in § 2 number 21 of the Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung and closely mirror the Dutch ones: table and seating, sleeping accommodation, a cooking facility and storage, all permanently installed in the living area. There too the table may be removable, provided it has a fixed mounting. The assessment is not done by a test centre but by an officially recognised expert from TÜV, DEKRA, GTÜ or KÜS, who issues an Eintragungsbescheid on approval.
Since 2012 there has been no national minimum standing height in the rules. In practice some assessors — particularly in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg — still expect a person of average height, around 170 cm, to stand upright at the cooker. Call your assessor before you build, not after.
Building with the inspection in mind
- Fix your furniture to the bodywork, not to your own floor. Use the manufacturer's existing mounting points where they exist.
- Have the cooking facility already mounted when you arrive. A loose stove on the worktop is not a cooking facility.
- Photograph the fixings before you close everything up. If an assessor asks, that is the difference between explaining and dismantling.
- Do not drive the converted van to the inspection without insurance that covers the conversion.
This page was updated in September 2026 and describes the rules as they then stood. Regulations change — the half rate is proof of that. Always check figures and requirements with the RDW or your German assessor before relying on them.
What you need for this
We do not (yet) sell these parts separately. The list is here because this is what should be in your basket before you start.
- Angle brackets and body bolts for fixing to the wall
- Fixed table leg with removable top
- Built-in hob, one or two burners
- Cabinet doors with push-to-open catches that stay shut on the road
Frequently asked questions
- Do I owe Dutch purchase tax when converting my van into a camper?
- Yes. Converting a panel van into a camper triggers the tax, even if the vehicle is more than five years old. The entrepreneur exemption for panel vans was abolished on 1 January 2025. If you meet the camper interior requirements you pay the special passenger-car rate; if not, you pay the full passenger-car rate.
- What is the difference between the RDW requirements and the tax requirements?
- The tax office is stricter. For the favourable rate, the space behind the front seats must accommodate a block at least 170 cm high, 200 cm long and 90 cm wide; there must be sleeping accommodation for two that is not formed from the front seats; and there must be a fixed kitchen unit with a worktop at least 60 cm high including a sink, tap and drain. Storage must be fixed and lockable. The RDW sets no height requirement and accepts a cooking facility without water.
- Can a low van qualify for the camper rate?
- Not without a raised roof. A van of around 140 cm never meets the 170 cm height requirement. If your interior is between 130 and 170 cm, you may raise it with a fixed high top or a pop-top; that raised section must itself be at least 100 cm long and 90 cm wide.
- What are the requirements to register a van as a camper?
- The living area must contain seating with a table, a bed, a cooking facility and storage, all permanently attached to the bodywork. The bed may be formed from the seating and the table may be removable, provided it has a fixed mounting. The RDW then registers the vehicle as M1 with bodywork code SA.
- What does the RDW inspection of a converted van cost?
- A standard inspection of five to nine aspects costs € 72.50. As soon as the seating itself is modified — extra belts, a rotated bench — it becomes an extended inspection from € 675. Allow about three quarters of an hour on site.
- Do I still pay the quarter road-tax rate for my camper?
- No. The quarter rate ended on 1 January 2026; since then the half rate applies, that is fifty per cent of the passenger-car rate in the same weight class. For a 3,500 kg camper that means roughly a thousand to thirteen hundred euros extra per year. You must apply for the special rate yourself.
- Is a minimum standing height prescribed in Germany?
- Not nationally, since 2012. In practice some assessors, particularly in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, still expect someone of about 170 cm to stand upright at the cooker. Ask the assessor who will judge your conversion, before you build.
- Can I drive a 3,500 kg camper on a category B licence?
- Yes, up to a permissible maximum mass of 3,500 kg. What counts is the figure on your registration document, not what the van weighs on a weighbridge. Above that you need a C1 licence, valid to 7,500 kg, with a medical and separate training.
Sources
Regulations change. This page was updated on the date above; check figures and requirements at the source before relying on them.
- Converting a van into a camper: requirements and inspection — RDW
- Interior requirements for the camper purchase-tax rate — Belastingdienst
- Road tax for a camper van — Belastingdienst
- When purchase tax is due on a conversion — Belastingdienst
- Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung, § 2 no. 21: definition of a Wohnmobil — Bundesministerium der Justiz